Music-leaf turner



(No Model.)

J. J. WALSH. MUSIC LEAF TURNER.

No. 565,308. Patented Aug. 4, 1896.

W/TNESSES.' INVENTO/ A TTOHNEYS.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN J. WALSH, OF YONKERS, NEVYORK.

MUSIC-LEAFYTU RN ER.,

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 565,308, dated August4, 1896.

Application filed July 9, 1895. Serial No. 555,422. (No model To allwhom t may concern,.- Y

Be it known that I, JOHN J. VALSH, of Yonkers, in the county ofVestchester and State of New York, have invented anew and ImprovedMusic-Leaf Turner, of which the following is a full, clear,and exactdescription. My invention has for its object to provide a music-leafturner capable of being att-ached to a piano, organ, or to a music-standof any description without screwing or otherwise fastening the device tothe support provided for it, thereby preventing the marring of thecasing of the instrument or chaflng a stand.

Another object of the invention is to construct a musicdeaf turner in anexceedingly simple and durable manner, and to provide devices forattaching leaves of music to the several arms of the machine in a mannerwhich will not act detrimentally to the sheets.

Another object of the invention is to provide for a quick releasing ofthe arms when' a sheet of music is required to be turned, andfurthermore. providing a construction whereby all of the music-carryingarms of the machine may be simultaneously carried over to a position toreceive the leaves, and locked in such position.

The invention consists in the novel construction and combination of theVseveral parts, as will be hereinafter fully set forth, and pointed outin the claims.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part ofthis specification, in which similar characters of reference indicatecorresponding parts in all the figures.

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a piano having the leaf-turner appliedthereto. Fig. 2 is a vertical section through the leaf-turner, taken ata point near the center. Fig. 3 is a partial rear View of theleaf-turner, parts being broken away; and Fig. 4 is a detail perspectiveview of the leaf-receiving end of one of the leaf-carrying arms.

In carrying out the invention a casing A is provided as the body of themachine, and this casing is of box-like construction and neednotnecessarilybevery large. The casing is preferably open at the vbackin the interest of lightness, and at the Aupper back portion of the bodyor casing of the machine at each side a rearwardly-extending bracket 10is formed, and these brackets are adapted to fit upon the ledge of theordinary music rack of a piano or organ or rest upon the leaf-supporting edge of the music stand. hen the machine is applied to apiano, as shown in Fig. 1, the body or casing will extend down from theusual rack to a point near the keyboard.

The body or casing has a ledge 11 secured upon its upper front edge,upon which the music is to rest, and this ledge extends any desireddistance beyond each side of the casing. A music-rest 12 of any desireddescription` and corresponding to the music-rack of the instrument ishinged upon the back portion of the bod y andis supported, preferably,in a rearwardly-inclined position by means of arms 13, pivoted to therear extensions of the casing and bearing against a batten formed uponthe rear of the said rest. These supporting-arms 13 may be independentof each other or they may be connected at the top.

The book or cover for the music is held in engagement with the front ofthe rest-board of the machine and the said rest-board pressed againstthe arms 13 through the medium of clamping-arms 14 of spring character,which emanate, preferably, from the forward edge of the ledge 11 andhave bearing at their upper ends against the front face of the saidrestboard, one near each side, as shown in Fig. 1, while a center pin orbar 15 is secured to the ledge 11 at its lower end and projects upwardlytoward the upper edge of the restboard 12. This pin or bar 15` serves tohold the sheets of music in place. This pin 15 is adapted to be placedvertically along the central portion of Sheetmusic or abook of music,being between the leaves at opposite sides, `and if in practice it isfound desirable this pin may be of spring material and rigidly securedto the ledge 11 at its lower end, being free at its upper end.

Brackets 16 and 17 are formed upon the front of the casing, preferablyat or near the center, and in these brackets the ends of a shaft 18 arefirmly fastened. This shaft is adapted as bearings for music-carryingarms C. Any desired number of these arms may be employed, and the armsare arranged one below the other and are graduated in length, the lowerone being the longest and the upper IOO one the shortest. The armscomprise practically a substantially horizontal member c and a verticalmember c', the vertical members of all of the arms being parallel, as isshown in Fig. 3.

Each music-carrying arm at the inner end of its horizontal member c isprovided with a sleeve 19, through which the shaft 1S is passed, andsprings 2O are coiled around the shaft between the arms and the arms ofthe brackets in which the shaft is secured, the springs being secured atone end to the shaft and attached at their opposite ends to thehorizontal members of the arms. ency of these springs is to carry thearms over to the left-hand side of the machine, but the arms should beplaced at the right-hand sideof the machine when the sheets of music areattached to them and before the machine is operated.

The vertical member c of each music-carrying arm C is provided with adevice for securing the sheet or leaf music to the arm, and this devicepreferably consists of a wire which is bent or coiled upon itself, asshown at 2]. in Fig. 4, the sheet or leaf to be attached to the armbeing passed between adjacent members of the coil, and if in practice itis found desirable the music-carrying arms may be made of stout wire andthe coil or music-receiving device 21 be formed of the same material.

Each musicu'ecciving device or coil is provided, preferably, with a disk22 upon its front face, adapted to have a number produced thereon, andthe numbers on the various arms read from the innermost or shorter armoutward, as, for example, 1, 2, and 3, the numbers being intended toindicate the leaves that have been turned, as, for example, when two ofthe arms have been shifted over the ligure 3, appearing on the third armstill in position, will indicate that two leaves have been turned.

The music-carrying arms are held at the right-hand side of the machineby means of latches 23, which are made to extend through an opening 24in the front of the casing, and are pivoted at their rear ends on a rib25,10- cated at the rear of the casing and held by a cross-bar, as shownbcst in Fig. 2, and each latch terminates at its free end in a headadapted to receive and hold the musie-carrying arms, the number oflatches corresponding to the number of arms. Each latch has a link 27attached thereto, and these links are carried downward to the bottomportion of the casing, where each link is pivotally attached to akey-lever 28, fulcrumed in the lower portion of the casing and extendingout through the front board, slots 30 being provided for the purpose,and each key-lcver at its outer end 'is provided with a disk 2f), or

The tendthe equivalent thereof, to be struck by the finger when thesheet of music is to be turned. These disks bear numbers correspondingto the numbers on the music-carrying arms that thc latches they areconnected with control, so that when the first leaf is to be turned thekey marked l is pressed. If the third leaf is to be turned, the keymarked 3 will be pressed and the third arm will swing, carrying with itthe appropriate leaf. lVhen a key-lever is pressed, the latch 23 withwhich it is connected is raised and the arm that it engaged will bereleased, and the spring conf trolling that arm will carry7 it over tothe lefthand side of the machine.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secureby Letters Patent l.. In a music-leaf turner, the combination with acasing provided with a bracket proj eeting from its rear face forsupportin git, and leaf-carrying arms carried by the casing, of amusic-rest hinged to the casing, and arms secured to the bracket of thecasing and engaging the rest to support it in an inclined posi tion,substantially as described.

2. In a musicleaf turner, the combination with a casing provided with aledge on its upper front face and with a bracket projecting from itsrear face for supporting it, and leaf-carrying arms carried by thecasing, of a music-rest hinged to the casing, and arms pivoted to thebracket of the casing and engaging the rest tohold it in an inclinedposition, substantially as described.

In a music-leaf turner, the combination with a casing having an openrear portion and having its side walls extended rearwardly to formbrackets capable of supporting the casing, of a cross-bar extendedacross the open rear portion of the casing and having a rib thereon, aseries of catches pivotally mounted on the rib and projected forwardlythrough an opening in the front of the casin g, a series of leaf-turningarms pivoted on the casing and respectively engaged by the catches,means for swinging the leaf-turning arms, a link lpivotally connected toeach catch, and keys mounted in the casing and respectively pivoted tothe links, substantially as described.

4. In a music-leaf turner, the combination with a casing, of operatedleaf-turning arms, a musicrest hinged on the casing, an arm rising fromthe casing and supporting the music-rest, and a spring engaging the n1usicrest and pressing the same against the arm, substantially asdescribed.

JOHN J. VALSII.

-Witnesses z J. FRED ACKER, C. Snncwicx.

IOO

